Cinema, politics and ideology: The Battle at Lake Changjin and China as a world power

• Grant number: 25/12206-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Cecilia Antakly de Mello
• Grantee: Micael Ferreira Pironti
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The proposed research aims to analyse the film The Battle at Lake Changjin (¿¿¿, 2021) as a paradigmatic example of a kind of political cinema, aimed at large audiences and in charge of historical writing. With thunderous production and box office figures, the film presents a historical frame that is relevant to the nations current state: the hard-earned Chinese triumph against the United States. As a state and military production, the film is intrinsically tied to Xi Jinpings political goals of placing China as a model to be followed internationally. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to draw connections between the cinematic potential of forming opinions, how the historical aspects are dealt within the film and how they are related to the current global scenario in which China aims to reach the status of main world power, using cinema as a soft power tool to disseminate its fundamental ideologies.